Kaizen Consultancy specialises in helping businesses to grow. Based at the C4DI since early 2016, they provide a full finance and accountancy service, as well as business consultancy. We caught up with Director Phil Ward and some of his clients to find out what Kaizen can do for your business or start-up.

“We’re unique in that we help businesses with both the financial and business side of things,” Phil explains. “This includes tax, funding, grants, payroll, strategic planning, sales development, executive coaching and team building.”

Phil joined Kaizen in 2012, after spending six years as a Business Advisor. Prior to this, he started his own business, which he ran for fifteen years. “I can quickly empathise with business owners, drawing from my own personal experiences.”

“We work alongside companies on a monthly, weekly and sometimes daily basis to help them grow and improve,” he adds. “We know their business inside out, and that’s why we can add some real value.”

Kaizen has worked with several companies based at the C4DI, including Good2Learn and Davton.

Paul Mandalia is very pleased with how things are going so far: “Good2Learn is a start-up in the early stages of its development. Over the past few months, Phil has been a very welcome addition to the team and integrated seamlessly into our culture.”

“Having facilitated in establishing a clear and focused business strategy, Phil has helped Good2Learn to achieve its short-term goals. In doing so, together we’ve built a strong foundation for its vision.”

“Whether you're a start-up seeking your first customer or looking to take your established business to the next level, I would highly recommend Kaizen Consulting, and Phil in particular.”

Being at the C4DI has allowed Phil to share his expertise: “It’s a great place to meet new people. I met Dave Tongeman at a Techie Brekkie, for instance.”

Dave Tongeman, founder of Davton, began working with Kaizen after seeking a more proactive service from his accountants: “I knew I needed a business mentor to help take me to the next level,” he explains. “It’s still early days in our relationship, but Phil has helped me and my business partners to look at some of the fundamentals of the business, and to start planning and setting goals for the medium term.”

“It’s not that he understands my business better than I do, he just asks questions I'm not asking (or don't want to answer) and helps me to think through my response. He then holds me accountable to my own goals. It’s a good discipline, and we are starting to see the benefits.”

This spirit of collaboration, openness, forward thinking and accountability is what makes Kaizen so effective: “We have a passion for start-ups,” adds Phil. “I’ve been there myself and I know what it’s like to start out, that’s one of the reasons we are here, to share our experience and knowledge with young businesses.”

The specialists at Kaizen are all about business improvement. Visit kaizenconsulting.co.uk to find out more about their proven system of incremental, continuous growth and improvement.